Systems and methods for serving online content based on user engagement duration

ABSTRACT

An engagement time computer system for serving online content based on user engagement duration includes an output device, at least one memory, and one or more processors. The processors are configured to determine a historical engagement time of an online user and to identify a plurality of online content items. Each online content item of the plurality of online content items has a target engagement time. The processors are further configured to receive a request for a content item. The request is associated with the online user. The processors are also configured to select a first online content item from the plurality of online content items based at least in part on the historical engagement time of the online user and the target engagement time of the first online content item and to transmit the first online content item for display to the online user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/056,991 filed on Sep. 29, 2014, which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

This specification relates to presenting online content to a user and,more particularly, to a system and method for serving online content tothe user based on a historical duration of engagement by the user withother online content.

Internet users and other consumers of online content are presented withpublications such as a news article on a publisher's a web page. Thisprimary content may also be presented alongside one or more onlinecontent items such as online advertisements. In some known systems,users may engage with the online content items for different durationsof time before, for example, navigating away from the online contentitems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

In one aspect, an engagement time computer system for serving onlinecontent based on user engagement duration is provided. The engagementtime computer system includes an output device, at least one memory, andone or more processors. The one or more processors are configured todetermine a historical engagement time of an online user. The one ormore processors are also configured to identify a plurality of onlinecontent items. Each online content item of the plurality of onlinecontent items has a target engagement time. The one or more processorsare further configured to receive a request for a content item. Therequest is associated with the online user. The one or more processorsare also configured to select a first online content item from theplurality of online content items based at least in part on thehistorical engagement time of the online user and the target engagementtime of the first online content item. The one or more processors arefurther configured to transmit the first online content item for displayto the online user.

In another aspect, a computer-implemented method for serving onlinecontent based on user engagement duration is provided. The method usesan engagement time module computing device including a processor and amemory. The method includes determining a historical engagement time ofan online user. The method also includes identifying a plurality ofonline content items. Each online content item of the plurality ofonline content items has a target engagement time. The method furtherincludes receiving a request for a content item. The request isassociated with the online user. The method also includes selecting, bythe processor, a first online content item from the plurality of onlinecontent items based at least in part on the historical engagement timeof the online user and the target engagement time of the first onlinecontent item. The method further includes transmitting the first onlinecontent item for display to the online user.

In yet another aspect, computer-readable storage media havingcomputer-executable instructions embodied thereon are provided. Whenexecuted by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructionscause the processor to determine a historical engagement time of anonline user. The computer-executable instructions also cause theprocessor to identify a plurality of online content items. Each onlinecontent item of the plurality of online content items has a targetengagement time. The computer-executable instructions further cause theprocessor to receive a request for a content item. The request isassociated with the online user. The computer-executable instructionsalso cause the processor to select a first online content item from theplurality of online content items based at least in part on thehistorical engagement time of the online user and the target engagementtime of the first online content item. The computer-executableinstructions further cause the processor to transmit the first onlinecontent item for display to the online user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-6 show example embodiments of the methods and systems describedherein.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example networked environment for servingonline content based on user engagement duration.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computing device that may be used toserve online content based on user engagement duration.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example content serving environment includingan ad serving system which may be used to provide online content itemsto a consuming user through a computing device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of the example content serving environment shown inFIG. 3 in which the engagement time module (ETM) provides online contentitems (e.g., ads) to a user based at least in part on engagement timesdetermined from historical engagement by the user with content items.

FIG. 5 is an example method for serving online content to a user baseduser engagement duration (e.g., historical engagement time).

FIG. 6 shows an example configuration of a database within a computingdevice, along with other related computing components, that may be usedfor serving online content to a user based user engagement duration.

Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicatelike elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Embodiments of the methods and systems described herein enableadvertisers to more meaningfully provide online content items (e.g.,advertisements) to a consuming user (i.e., the user to whom the ad isserved). An online Content Management System (CMS) manages one or moreaspects of online content presentation to the consuming user. Forexample, the CMS may present video ads to online users during theironline experience. During the presentation of these video ads, theconsuming user engages with (e.g., watches) the ad for a period of time,but may disengage or abandon the ad prior to its completion. Further,the user may abandon the ad prior to an important point (i.e., keymessaging point) in the ad, and thus the advertiser's message may nothave been completely delivered.

The CMS in the example systems and methods described herein includes oris in communication with an Engagement Time Module (ETM) that selectsonline content items (e.g., ads) for the consuming user based on thatuser's historical engagement times (e.g., how long that user tends toengage with certain online ads). The ETM determines engagement duration,or a “historical engagement time”, associated with the consuming userover the course of past historical viewings. For example, the ETM maydetermine that a first user views ads for an average of 30 secondsbefore abandonment, while a second user views ads for only 10 secondsbefore abandonment. Moreover, the ETM may determine that the first userhas an average viewing time of 40 seconds when viewing sports-relatedads. Thus, the historical engagement time may be relative to aparticular type of advertisement or particular subject matter of theadvertisement. In some embodiments, the system stores the user'sengagement time with content items in an anonymized form. In at leastsome embodiments, a user has the option to consent to or decline havingthe system store their engagement time with content items.

The ETM also allows advertisers to specify, for a particular ad, a“target engagement time” within that ad. The “target engagement time”,generally speaking, indicates a point at which the optimal component,idea, or message (“key messaging point”) of the advertiser's ad has beendelivered. For example, a shoe manufacturer may have a 30-second ad fora pair of shoes. At the 10-14 second mark within the ad, the ad presentsthe pair of shoes being worn by a famous athlete. The advertiser maydetermine that this is the key messaging point of the 30-second ad for amajority of consumers and, as such, if a viewer watches the ad throughthe famous athlete section (e.g., past the 14-second mark), then thatviewer has received the most important content in the advertisement. TheETM enables advertisers to configure and store a target engagement time(e.g., 14 seconds) for each particular ad (the “target engagement time”being at least some time after the key messaging point).

During online activity, a consuming user may request a video to watch.By inputting such a request, another request is also inputted by theconsuming user, the other request being a request for an online contentitem, such as an ad that will be displayed prior to watching a videosought by the user. The ETM selects an online content item by comparingthe user's historical engagement time to the target engagement times ofa pool of online content items. More specifically, the ETM selects anonline content item having a target engagement time near the user'shistorical engagement time. For example, the ETM may select an ad with atarget engagement time of 28 seconds for a user that has a 30-secondhistorical engagement time, and may select an ad with a targetengagement time of 11 seconds for another user that has a 13-secondhistorical engagement time. As such, the particular impression ordisplay of each ad to each particular user is more likely to generate acomplete engagement, or a viewing through the important point in the ad.

In some embodiments, content items are categorized into ad types orother groupings, and the ETM determines a historical engagement time forthe online user that is particular to that ad category or type. Forexample, one online user may have a historical engagement time for“golf” related ads of 30 seconds, but may only have a historicalengagement time for “shoe” related ads of 10 seconds. The ETM maycompare candidate “golf” type ads (and their respective targetengagement times) to candidate “shoe” type ads (and their respectivetarget engagement times) to determine which ad is most likely to befully consumed by that particular online user. In other embodiments, theETM determines a cost for providing the ad that is based on how long theuser actually engaged with the provided ad.

As used herein, the term “engagement” is used generally and broadly torefer to how a user interacts with or views content items and/orpublications. For example, a user may be said to engage with an onlinepublication when they read the contents, or view an included ad, orclick on an element within the publication. The term “engagement time”is used generally to refer to a length of time a user engages with(e.g., views or consumes) an online content item. For example, a userthat watches a 30-second video ad for 14 seconds is said to have anengagement time with that ad of 14 seconds.

As used herein, the term “consumption” is used generally and broadly torefer to an aspect of engagement associated with a content item and/or apublication. For example, a user may be said to consume an onlinepublication if they read all of the words contained within thatpublication. Further, a user may be said to fully consume an onlinecontent item if they consume the item for a minimum amount of time(e.g., the “target engagement time”, as specified by the creatingadvertiser).

At least one of the technical problems addressed by this systemincludes: (i) abandonment or partial consumption of online contentitems; (ii) serving online content items to users that do not consumethe most important information within the online content items; and(iii) charging advertisers without consideration of user engagement.Other technical problems may include increased network usage (slowingdown the network) due to the over-serving of online content items thatmay be only partially consumed by consuming users. Certain embodimentsdescribed herein may address one or more of these technical problems.

The methods and systems described herein may be implemented usingcomputer programming or engineering techniques including computersoftware, firmware, hardware, or any combination or subset thereof,wherein the technical effects may be achieved by performing at least oneof the following steps: (a) determining a historical engagement time ofan online user; (b) identifying a plurality of online content items,each online content item of the plurality of online content items havinga target engagement time; (c) receiving a request for a content item,wherein the request is associated with the online user; (d) selecting afirst online content item from the plurality of online content itemsbased at least in part on the historical engagement time of the onlineuser and the target engagement time of the first online content item;(e) transmitting the first online content item for display to the onlineuser; (f) determining an average time that the online user engaged withone or more historical online content items; (g) determining averagetime that the online user engaged with one or more historical onlinecontent items within a category of historical online content items; (h)determining the historical engagement time based at least in part ontime spent by the online user viewing a video ad before abandoning theviewing; (i) selecting an online content item is based at least in parton having an associated target engagement time near the historicalengagement time; (j) receiving the target engagement times of theplurality of online content items from a plurality of associated onlinecontent providers; and (k) determining an actual engagement time of theonline user engaging with the first online content item, and determininga cost associated with providing the first online content item based atleast in part on the actual engagement time and the target engagementtime.

The resulting technical effect achieved by this system is at least oneof: (i) matching online content items with users that are likely toconsume a pre-determined amount of the content item; (ii) enablingadvertisers to identify a target engagement time for their ads; and(iii) modifying advertising compensation based on user engagement. Thus,the system is better able to serve relevant online content items tousers, which results in a better user experience with the network andreduces the amount of only partially consumed content items that aretransmitted over the network. Accordingly, the systems and methodsdescribed herein improve the technical field of content serving. Forexample, the operation of the network, the computing devicestransmitting the online content, and the computing devices receiving thecontent item is improved. More specifically, by transmitting onlinecontent items that are more likely to be viewed by users in theirentirety, the systems and methods reduce the likelihood that network andprocessing resources will be unnecessarily allocated to transmit andprocess data that will not be fully utilized by users (e.g., onlinecontent items that will not be viewed in their entirety), and insteadwill be available to transmit and process other data.

The following detailed description illustrates embodiments of thedisclosure by way of example and not by way of limitation. It iscontemplated that the disclosure has general application to thepresentation and valuation of content items such as onlineadvertisements during presentation of publications such as online webpages.

As used herein, an element or step recited in the singular and proceededwith the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding pluralelements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly recited.Furthermore, references to “one embodiment” of the present disclosureare not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence ofadditional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example networked environment 100 forserving online content based on user engagement duration. With referenceto FIG. 1, an example networked environment 100 may include one or morecontent providers 102 (alternatively referred to herein as merchants),one or more publishers 104, a content management system (CMS) 106, andone or more user access devices 108 (“client computing devices” or just“client devices”), which may be coupled to a network 110. User accessdevices are used by users 150, 152, and 154. Each of the elements 102,104, 106, 108 and 110 in FIG. 1 may be implemented or associated withhardware components, software components, or firmware components or anycombination of such components. The elements 102, 104, 106, 108 and 110can, for example, be implemented or associated with servers, softwareprocesses and engines, and/or various embedded systems. The elements102, 104, 106 and 110 may serve, for example, as a content bidding anddistribution network. In the example embodiment, content providers 102include online advertisers, and CMS 106 is an advertising managementsystem that enables presentation of online content based on userengagement duration.

The content providers 102 may include any entities that are associatedwith content (i.e., a content item or multiple content items). In someembodiments, the content includes any form of communication in which oneor more products, services, ideas, messages, people, organizations orother items are identified and promoted (or otherwise communicated).Content is not limited to advertisements and commercial promotions.Rather, content may include public service announcements or any othertypes of notices, such as public notices published in printed orelectronic press or broadcasts. In some embodiments, content providers102 provide content items that include, for example, audio and/or videoadvertisements.

Content may be communicated via various mediums and in various forms. Insome examples, content may be communicated through an interactivemedium, such as the Internet, and may include graphical content (e.g.,banner content), textual content, image content, audio content, videocontent, content combining one of more of any of such components, or anyform of electronically delivered content. Content may include embeddedinformation, such as embedded media, links, meta-information, and/ormachine executable instructions. Content could also be communicatedthrough RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, radio channels,television channels, print media, and other media.

Content can refer to both a single “creative” and a “content group.” Acreative refers to any entity that represents one content impression,also referred to herein as an advertisement, or “ad.” A contentimpression refers to any form of presentation of content such that it isviewable/receivable by a user. In some examples, a content impressionmay occur when content is displayed on a display device of a user accessdevice (i.e., a “client computing device”). A content group refers, forexample, to an entity that represents a group of creatives that share acommon characteristic, such as having the same content selection andrecommendation criteria. Content groups can be used to create a contentcampaign.

In some embodiments, one or more ads are affiliated with an “ad group.”An ad group includes one or more ads along with other associatedinformation related to those ads, such as, for example and withoutlimitation, a title, a headline, a budget, targeting criteria, andkeywords. In the example embodiment, an ad group includes one ad andassociated information. As used herein, the term “ad” and “ad group” maybe used interchangeably, as some operations that are performed relativeto an ad may also be performed relative to an ad group, and vice versa.

The content providers 102 may provide (or be otherwise associated with)products and/or services related to content. The content providers 102may include or be associated with, for example, retailers, wholesalers,warehouses, manufacturers, distributors, health care providers,educational establishments, financial establishments, technologyproviders, energy providers, utility providers, or any other product orservice providers or distributors.

The content providers 102 may directly or indirectly generate, maintain,review, and/or analyze content, which may be related to products orservices offered by or otherwise associated with the content providers102. The content providers 102 may include or maintain one or more dataprocessing systems 112, such as servers or embedded systems, coupled tothe network 110. The content providers 102 may include or maintain oneor more processes that run on one or more data processing systems. Insome embodiment, some content providers 102 review online content itemsusing, for example, systems 112 and/or CMS 106.

The publishers 104 may include any entities that generate, maintain,provide, present and/or otherwise process publications in theenvironment 100. “Publishers,” in particular, include authors ofpublications, wherein authors may be individual persons, or, in the caseof works made for hire, the proprietor(s) who hired the individual(s)responsible for creating the online publications. The term “publication”refers to various types of web-based, software application-based and/orotherwise presented information, including articles, discussion threads,reports, analyses, financial statements, music, video, graphics, searchresults, web page listings, information feeds (e.g., RSS feeds),television broadcasts, radio broadcasts, printed information, or anyother form of information that may be presented to a user using acomputing device such as one of user access devices 108.

In some implementations, the publishers 104 may include publishers withan Internet presence, such as online publication and news providers(e.g., online newspapers, online magazines, television websites, etc.),online service providers (e.g., financial service providers, healthservice providers, etc.), and the like. The publishers 104 can includesoftware application providers, television broadcasters, radiobroadcasters, satellite broadcasters, and other providers ofpublications. One or more of the publishers 104 may represent apublication network that is associated with the CMS 106.

The publishers 104 may receive requests from the user access devices 108(or other elements in the environment 100) and provide or presentpublications to the requesting devices. The publishers may provide orpresent publications via various mediums and in various forms, includingweb based and non-web based mediums and forms. The publishers 104 maygenerate and/or maintain such publications and/or retrieve thepublications from other network resources.

In addition to publications, the publishers 104 may be configured tointegrate or combine retrieved publications with content that is relatedor relevant to the retrieved publication for display to users 150, 152,and 154. The relevant content may be provided from the CMS 106 and maybe combined with a publication for display to users 150, 152, and 154.In some examples, the publishers 104 may retrieve a publication fordisplay on a particular user access device 108 and then forward thepublication to the user access device 108 along with code that causescontent from the CMS 106 to be displayed to the user 150, 152, or 154.In other examples, the publishers 104 may retrieve a publication,retrieve relevant content (e.g., from the CMS 106 or the contentproviders 102), and then integrate the content and the publication toform a page for display to the user 150, 152, or 154. In still otherexamples, the publishers 104 may provide online content space for saleto advertisers, such as content providers 102. Such content space may bepopulated with content items from the content providers 102, and may bepresented to the user 150, 152, or 154 along with the publications.

As noted above, one or more of the publishers 104 may represent apublication network. In such an implementation, the content providers102 may be able to present content to users through this publicationnetwork. Further, in some embodiments, content providers 102 bid ononline content items, for example, through CMS 106.

The publishers 104 may include or maintain one or more data processingsystems 114, such as servers or embedded systems, coupled to the network110. They may include or maintain one or more processes that run on dataprocessing systems. In some examples, the publishers 104 may include oneor more publication repositories 124 for storing publications and otherinformation. Additionally, in some embodiments, publishers 104 and/orcontent providers 102 may review online content items using, forexample, system 114 and/or CMS 106.

The CMS 106 manages content and provides various services to the contentproviders 102, the publishers 104, and the user access devices 108. TheCMS 106 may store content in a content repository 126 and facilitate thedistribution or selective provision and recommendation of contentthrough the environment 100 to the user access devices 108.

The CMS 106 may include one or more data processing systems 116, such asservers or embedded systems, coupled to the network 110. It can alsoinclude one or more processes, such as server processes. In someexamples, the CMS 106 may include a content serving system 120 and anengagement time module (ETM) 118. The content serving system 120 mayinclude one or more data processing systems 116 and may performfunctionality associated with delivering content to publishers or useraccess devices 108. The ETM 118 may include one or more data processingsystems 116 and may perform functionality associated with identifyingrelevant content to deliver, processing various rules, performingfiltering processes, generating reports, maintaining accounts and usageinformation, auctioning online content items, and other backend systemprocessing. The CMS 106 can use the ETM 118 and the content servingsystem 120 to selectively recommend and provide relevant content fromthe content providers 102 through the publishers 104 to the user accessdevices 108.

The CMS 106 may include or access one or more crawling, indexing andsearching modules (not shown). These modules may browse accessibleresources (e.g., the World Wide Web, publisher content, data feeds,etc.) to identify, index and store information. The modules may browseinformation and create copies of the browsed information for subsequentprocessing. The modules may also check links, validate code, harvestinformation, and/or perform other maintenance or other tasks.

Searching modules may search information from various resources, such asthe World Wide Web, publications, intranets, newsgroups, databases,and/or directories. The search modules may employ one or more knownsearch or other processes to search data. In some implementations, thesearch modules may index crawled content and/or content received fromdata feeds to build one or more search indices. The search indices maybe used to facilitate rapid retrieval of information relevant to asearch query. Searching modules may also store search results includingone or more of search query terms, search results elements, and adsimpressions served.

The CMS 106 may include one or more interface or frontend modules forproviding the various features to content providers, publishers, anduser access devices. For example, the CMS 106 may provide one or morepublisher front-end interfaces (PFEs) for allowing publishers tointeract with the CMS 106. The CMS 106 may also provide one or morecontent provider front-end interfaces (CPFEs) for allowing contentproviders to interact with the CMS 106. In some examples, the front-endinterfaces may be configured as web applications that provide users withnetwork access to features available in the CMS 106.

The CMS 106 provides various content management features to the contentproviders 102. The CMS 106 features may allow users to set up useraccounts, set account preferences, create content, select keywords forcontent, create campaigns or initiatives for multiple products orbusinesses, view reports associated with accounts, analyze costs andreturn on investment, selectively identify customers in differentregions, selectively recommend and provide content to particularpublishers, analyze financial information, analyze content performance,estimate content traffic, access keyword tools, add graphics andanimations to content, and review content items as described herein.

The CMS 106 may allow the content providers 102 to create content andinput keywords for which the content will appear. In some examples, theCMS 106 may provide content to user access devices or publishers whenkeywords associated with that content are included in a user request ora requested publication. The CMS 106 may also allow the contentproviders 102 to set bids for content. A bid may represent the maximumamount a content provider is willing to pay for each content impression,user click-through of content or other interaction with content. Aclick-through can include any action a user takes to select content. Thecontent providers 102 may also choose a currency and monthly budget.

The CMS 106 may also allow the content providers 102 to view informationabout content impressions, which may be maintained by the CMS 106. TheCMS 106 may be configured to determine and maintain the number ofcontent impressions relative to a particular website or keyword. The CMS106 may also determine and maintain the number of click-through's forcontent as well as the ratio of click-through's to impressions.

The CMS 106 may also allow the content providers 102 to select and/orcreate conversion types for content. A “conversion” may occur when auser consummates a transaction related to given content. A conversioncould be defined to occur when a user clicks on content, for example aspecific content item, is referred to the content provider's web page,and consummates a purchase there before leaving that web page. Inanother example, a conversion could be defined as the display of contentto a user and a corresponding purchase on the content provider's webpage within a predetermined time (e.g., seven days). The CMS 106 maystore conversion data and other information in a conversion datarepository 136.

The CMS 106 may allow the content providers 102 to input descriptioninformation associated with content. This information could be used toassist the publishers 104 in determining content to publish. The contentproviders 102 may additionally input a cost/value associated withselected conversion types, such as a five dollar credit to thepublishers 104 for each product or service purchased.

The CMS 106 may provide various features to the publishers 104. The CMS106 may deliver content (associated with the content providers 102) tothe user access devices 108 when users access publications from thepublishers 104. The CMS 106 can be configured to deliver content that isrelevant to publisher sites, publications, and publisher audiences.

In some examples, the CMS 106 may crawl publications provided by thepublishers 104 and deliver content that is relevant to publisher sites,publications and publisher audiences based on the crawled publications.The CMS 106 may also selectively recommend and/or provide content basedon user information and behavior, such as particular search queriesperformed on a search engine website. In some examples, the CMS 106 canadd search to a publisher site and deliver content configured to provideappropriate and relevant content relative to search results generated byrequests from visitors of the publisher site. A combination of these andother approaches can be used to deliver relevant content.

The CMS 106 may allow the publishers 104 to search and select specificproducts and services as well as associated content to be displayed withpublications provided by the publishers 104. For example, the publishers104 may search through content in the content repository 126 and selectcertain content for display with their publications.

The CMS 106 may be configured to selectively recommend and providecontent created by the content providers 102 to the user access devices108 directly or through the publishers 104. The CMS 106 may selectivelyrecommend and provide content to a particular publisher 104 (asdescribed in further detail herein) or a requesting user access device108 when a user requests search results or loads a publication from thepublisher 104.

In some implementations, the CMS 106 may manage and process financialtransactions among and between elements in the environment 100. Forexample, the CMS 106 may credit accounts associated with the publishers104 and debit accounts of the content providers 102. These and othertransactions may be based on conversion data, impressions informationand/or click-through rates received and maintained by the CMS 106.

“Computing devices”, for example user access devices 108, may includeany devices capable of receiving information from the network 110. Theuser access devices 108 could include general computing componentsand/or embedded systems optimized with specific components forperforming specific tasks. Examples of user access devices includepersonal computers (e.g., desktop computers), mobile computing devices,cell phones, smart phones, head-mounted computing devices, mediaplayers/recorders, music players, game consoles, media centers, mediaplayers, electronic tablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs),television systems, audio systems, radio systems, removable storagedevices, navigation systems, set top boxes, other electronic devices andthe like. The user access devices 108 can also include various otherelements, such as processes running on various machines.

The network 110 may include any element or system that facilitatescommunications among and between various network nodes, such as elements108, 112, 114 and 116. The network 110 may include one or moretelecommunications networks, such as computer networks, telephone orother communications networks, the Internet, etc. The network 110 mayinclude a shared, public, or private data network encompassing a widearea (e.g., WAN) or local area (e.g., LAN). In some implementations, thenetwork 110 may facilitate data exchange by way of packet switchingusing the Internet Protocol (IP). The network 110 may facilitate wiredand/or wireless connectivity and communication.

For purposes of explanation only, certain aspects of this disclosure aredescribed with reference to the discrete elements illustrated in FIG. 1.The number, identity and arrangement of elements in the environment 100are not limited to what is shown. For example, the environment 100 caninclude any number of geographically-dispersed content providers 102,publishers 104 and/or user access devices 108, which may be discrete,integrated modules or distributed systems. Similarly, the environment100 is not limited to a single CMS 106 and may include any number ofintegrated or distributed CMS systems or elements.

Furthermore, additional and/or different elements not shown may becontained in or coupled to the elements shown in FIG. 1, and/or certainillustrated elements may be absent. In some examples, the functionsprovided by the illustrated elements could be performed by less than theillustrated number of components or even by a single element. Theillustrated elements could be implemented as individual processesrunning on separate machines or a single process running on a singlemachine.

In some embodiments, the CMS 106 and/or ETM 118 serve online contentbased on engagement durations. For example, ETM 118 determineshistorical engagement times for one or more users 150, 152, 154. ETM 118also receives online content items and associated target engagementtimes from content providers 102. While serving content to the one ormore users 150, 152, 154, ETM 118 compares historical engagement timesof a consuming user (e.g., user 150) to target engagement times of apool of ads and determines which ad from the pool to serve to the user.In some embodiments, the ETM 118 stores the user's engagement time withcontent items in an anonymized form. In at least some embodiments, auser has the option to consent to or decline having the ETM 118 storetheir engagement time with content items. Additionally, in at least someembodiments, the system stores the user's browsing history in ananonymized form or enables the user to consent to or decline havingtheir browsing history stored by the system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computing device 200 that may be used toserve online content based on user engagement duration. In the exampleembodiment, computing device could be any of the computing devices shownin FIG. 1, such as, for example, user access device 108, ETM 118, or CMS106. FIG. 2 shows an example of a computing device 200 intended torepresent various forms of digital computers, such as laptops, desktops,workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers,mainframes, and other appropriate computers. Computing device 200 isalso intended to represent various forms of mobile devices, such aspersonal digital assistants, cellular telephones, smart phones, tabletcomputers, digital e-book readers, and other similar computing devicesthat could be used for displaying publications and/or content items to auser. The components shown here, their connections and relationships,and their functions, are meant to be examples only, and are not meant tolimit implementations of the subject matter described and/or claimed inthis document.

In the example embodiment, computing device 200 could be user accessdevice 108 or any of data processing devices 112, 114, or 116 (shown inFIG. 2), wherein it is specifically configured to perform one or more ofthe steps described herein. In the example embodiment, computing device200 may include a bus 202, a processor 204, a main memory 206, a readonly memory (ROM) 208, a storage device 210, an input device 212, anoutput device 214, and a communication interface 216. Bus 202 mayinclude a path that permits communication among the components ofcomputing device 200.

Processor 204 may include any type of conventional processor,microprocessor, or processing logic that interprets and executesinstructions. Processor 204 can process instructions for executionwithin the computing device 200, including instructions stored in thememory 206 or on the storage device 210 to display graphical informationfor a GUI on an external input/output device, such as display 214coupled to a high speed interface. In other implementations, multipleprocessors and/or multiple buses may be used, as appropriate, along withmultiple memories and types of memory. Also, multiple computing devices200 may be connected, with each device providing portions of thenecessary operations (e.g., as a server bank, a group of blade servers,or a multi-processor system). In some embodiments, processor 204 istransformed into a special purpose microprocessor by executingcomputer-executable instructions or by otherwise being programmed.

Main memory 206 may include a random access memory (RAM) or another typeof dynamic storage device that stores information and instructions forexecution by processor 204. ROM 208 may include a conventional ROMdevice or another type of static storage device that stores staticinformation and instructions for use by processor 204. Main memory 206stores information within the computing device 200. In oneimplementation, main memory 206 is a volatile memory unit or units. Inanother implementation, main memory 206 is a non-volatile memory unit orunits. Main memory 206 may also be another form of computer-readablemedium, such as a magnetic or optical disk.

Storage device 210 may include a magnetic and/or optical recordingmedium and its corresponding drive. The storage device 210 is capable ofproviding mass storage for the computing device 200. In oneimplementation, the storage device 210 may be or contain acomputer-readable medium, such as a floppy disk device, a hard diskdevice, an optical disk device, or a tape device, a flash memory orother similar solid state memory device, or an array of devices,including devices in a storage area network or cloud-based storage orother configurations. A computer program product can be tangiblyembodied in an information carrier. The computer program product mayalso contain instructions that, when executed, perform one or moremethods, such as those described above. The information carrier is acomputer- or machine-readable medium, such as main memory 206, ROM 208,the storage device 210, or memory on processor 204.

The high speed controller manages bandwidth-intensive operations for thecomputing device 200, while the low speed controller manages lowerbandwidth-intensive operations. Such allocation of functions is forpurposes of example only. In one implementation, the high-speedcontroller is coupled to main memory 206, display 214 (e.g., through agraphics processor or accelerator), and to high-speed expansion ports,which may accept various expansion cards (not shown). In theimplementation, low-speed controller is coupled to storage device 210and low-speed expansion port. The low-speed expansion port, which mayinclude various communication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet,wireless Ethernet) may be coupled to one or more input/output devices,such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a scanner, or a networking devicesuch as a switch or router, e.g., through a network adapter.

Input device 212 may include a conventional mechanism that permitscomputing device 200 to receive commands, instructions, or other inputsfrom a user 150, 152, or 154, including visual, audio, touch, buttonpresses, stylus taps, etc. Additionally, input device may receivelocation information. Accordingly, input device 212 may include, forexample, a camera, a microphone, one or more buttons, a touch screen,and/or a GPS receiver. Output device 214 may include a conventionalmechanism that outputs information to the user, including a display(including a touch screen) and/or a speaker. Communication interface 216may include any transceiver-like mechanism that enables computing device200 to communicate with other devices and/or systems. For example,communication interface 216 may include mechanisms for communicatingwith another device or system via a network, such as network 110 (shownin FIG. 1).

As described herein, computing device 200 facilitates the serving ofonline content items based on user engagement. Computing device 200 mayperform these and other operations in response to processor 204executing software instructions contained in a computer-readable medium,such as memory 206. A computer-readable medium may be defined as aphysical or logical memory device and/or carrier wave. The softwareinstructions may be read into memory 206 from another computer-readablemedium, such as data storage device 210, or from another device viacommunication interface 216. The software instructions contained inmemory 206 may cause processor 204 to perform processes describedherein. Alternatively, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with software instructions to implement processes consistentwith the subject matter herein. Thus, implementations consistent withthe principles of the subject matter disclosed herein are not limited toany specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

The computing device 200 may be implemented in a number of differentforms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as astandard server, or multiple times in a group of such servers. It mayalso be implemented as part of a rack server system. In addition, it maybe implemented in a personal computer such as a laptop computer. Each ofsuch devices may contain one or more of computing device 200, and anentire system may be made up of multiple computing devices 200communicating with each other.

The processor 204 can execute instructions within the computing device200, including instructions stored in the main memory 206. The processormay be implemented as chips that include separate and multiple analogand digital processors. The processor may provide, for example, forcoordination of the other components of the device 200, such as controlof user interfaces, applications run by device 200, and wirelesscommunication by device 200.

Computing device 200 includes a processor 204, main memory 206, ROM 208,an input device 212, an output device such as a display 214, acommunication interface 216, among other components including, forexample, a receiver and a transceiver. The device 200 may also beprovided with a storage device 210, such as a microdrive or otherdevice, to provide additional storage. Each of the components areinterconnected using various buses, and several of the components may bemounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate.

Computing device 200 may communicate wirelessly through communicationinterface 216, which may include digital signal processing circuitrywhere necessary. Communication interface 216 may provide forcommunications under various modes or protocols, such as GSM voicecalls, SMS, EMS, or MMS messaging, CDMA, TDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, orGPRS, among others. Such communication may occur, for example, throughradio-frequency transceiver. In addition, short-range communication mayoccur, such as using a Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or other such transceiver (notshown). In addition, a GPS (Global Positioning system) receiver modulemay provide additional navigation- and location-related wireless data todevice 200, which may be used as appropriate by applications running ondevice 200.

Computing device 200 may also communicate audibly using an audio codec,which may receive spoken information from a user and convert it tousable digital information. The audio codec may likewise generateaudible sound for a user, such as through a speaker, e.g., in a handsetof device. Such sound may include sound from voice telephone calls, mayinclude recorded sound (e.g., voice messages, music files, etc.) and mayalso include sound generated by applications operating on computingdevice 200.

Computing device 200 may be implemented in a number of different forms.For example, it may be implemented as a cellular telephone, or as partof a smart phone, personal digital assistant, a computer tablet, orother similar mobile device.

To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniquesdescribed here can be implemented on a computer having a display device(e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor)for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointingdevice (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user can provideinput to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide forinteraction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to theuser can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback,auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user can bereceived in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in acomputing system (e.g., computing device 200) that includes a back endcomponent (e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middlewarecomponent (e.g., an application server), or that includes a front endcomponent (e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface ora Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementationof the systems and techniques described here), or any combination ofsuch back end, middleware, or front end components. The components ofthe system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital datacommunication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communicationnetworks include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network(“WAN”), and the Internet.

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

In the example embodiment, computing device 200 is configured to serveonline content items based on user engagement or consumption ofhistorical content items served to that user. In some embodiments,computing device 200 is the ETM 118 shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example content serving environment 300including an ad serving system 120 which may be used to provide onlinecontent items to a consuming user 304 through a computing device 302. Insome embodiments, content serving environment 300 may be similar tonetworked environment 100, user 304 may be similar to users 150, 152,and 154, and computing device 302 may be similar to computing devices108 (all shown in FIG. 1).

In the example embodiment, user 304 is an online user consuming onlinepublications in an online environment in which a plurality of adrequests 310 are generated and directed to ad serving system 120. Adserving system 120 responds 320 to computing device 302 by providing aplurality online content items (e.g., “ads”) 322 to computing device302. The plurality of ads 322 are viewed, or “consumed”, by user 304. Insome embodiments, ads 322 are video ads that user 304 watches prior toor contemporaneously with the consumption of another online publication.For example, in some environments, an ad 322 is provided prior to orduring the presentation of a video publication desired by user 304.

In the example embodiment, a engagement time module (ETM) 118 receivesconsumption data from computing device 302. This consumption data isassociated with the users' 304 consumption of ads 322. Morespecifically, ETM receives or otherwise determines engagement times 330that indicate how long (e.g., a duration in units of time) the user 304engaged with (e.g., watched) an ad 322. For example, user 304 mayrequest a video publication in an online video presentation environment,and that video presentation environment may present an ad 322 prior topresentation of the requested video publication. User 304 may watch all,or only a portion, of ad 322, thereby generating an engagement time 330associated with that user 304 and that ad 322.

ETM 118, in the example embodiment, generates an engagement history 340associated with user 304 over a plurality of ad viewings. Morespecifically, ETM 118 computes one or more historical engagement times341 for user 304 based at least in part on engagement times 330. In someembodiments, ETM 118 computes an aggregate, “uncategorized” engagementtime 342 for user 304. For example, ETM 118 may compute an averageengagement time 342 based on all engagement times for the user (e.g.,regardless of the content type of ads 322). In the example shown in FIG.3, user 304 has an uncategorized engagement time 342 “H*”=15 seconds. Inother words, not considering tendencies based on the content of ads,user 304 has a tendency to consume approximately 15 seconds of adspresented to him/her before abandoning the content.

In some embodiments, ETM 118 computes categorized engagement times 344,346 for user 304. Ads 322 may be categorized by content type, andengagement times 330 may be associated not only with particular ads 322,but with particular ad categories. For example, some ads 322 may becategorized as related to the sport of golf, and other ads 322 may becategorized as related to footwear. As such, ETM 118 may compute acategorized engagement time 344 associated with just engagement times330 related to the viewing of golf-related ads (e.g., the ads 322categorized under “golf”), as well as a categorized engagement time 346associated with just engagement times 330 related to the viewing offootwear-related ads (e.g., the ads 322 categorized under “footwear”).In the example shown in FIG. 3, user 304 has a golf engagement time 344of 28 seconds, and a footwear engagement time 346 of 11 seconds. Thismay indicate, for example, that

In some embodiments, engagement times 341 may be time-limited, such asan aggregation of all engagement times within the last month, or allengagement times during a given time period.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of the example content serving environment 300 shownin FIG. 3 in which ETM 118 provides online content items (e.g., ads 450)to user 304 based at least in part on engagement times 341 determinedfrom historical engagement with content items. In the exampleembodiment, ETM 118 is in communication with a database having ads data440. Ads data 440 includes a plurality of ads 450, and each ad 450 hasan associated target engagement time (e.g., provided by the advertiser).Further, in the example embodiment, ads data 440 also includes one ormore ads categories, such as “golf ads” or “footwear ads”. Ads 450 maybe assigned to one or more of these ads categories. In the example shownin FIG. 4, ads data 440 includes a pool of golf-related ads 460 thatincludes three golf-related ads 450: a first ad 452 has a targetengagement time of 7 seconds, a second ad 454 has a target engagementtime of 24 seconds, and a third ad 456 has a target engagement time of30 seconds.

In the example embodiment, user 304 requests an online publication suchas a web site or an online video. In conjunction with the onlinepublication request, an ad request 310 is generated and transmitted toad serving system 120. In the example embodiment, ETM 118 receives an adrequest 410 associated with user 304 and/or computing device 302 (e.g.,via ad serving system 120). ETM 118 identifies engagement history 340associated with user 304 and, more specifically, selects an historicalengagement time 341.

In some embodiments, ETM 118 selects an uncategorized engagement time342 (shown in FIG. 3). In the example embodiment, ETM 118 receives,determines, or otherwise identifies a category associated with adrequest 410, such as “golf”, and selects a categorized engagement timefor that category. For example, ad serving system 120 may determine thecategory when first receiving request 410 based on historical interestdata associated with user 304 and/or computing device 302. ETM 118 thusselects the “golf-related” historical engagement time 344 of user 304from engagement history. In some embodiments, if no “golf-related”historical engagement time 344 is present for user 304, ETM 118 mayselect a different engagement time 340. For example, ETM 118 may selectuncategorized engagement time 342 as a “default” engagement time whenanother more appropriate engagement time 340 is not available. In otherembodiments, ETM 118 may determine an engagement time 340 that issomehow related or similar to the category. In one embodiment, forexample, ETM 118 examines a hierarchy of ad categories and selects anengagement time 340 associated with an ancestor or descendent of thecategory. For example, the hierarchy may define “golf” as a child of“outdoor sports”, and “outdoor sports” as a child of “sports”. As such,if a “golf” historical engagement time 344 is not available for user304, but an “outdoor sports” or a “sports” historical engagement time isavailable for user 304, ETM may select one of these (e.g., the nearestavailable ancestor or descendent) to use as historical engagement time.

ETM 118 also identifies a pool of ads 450 from which to select an ad forad request 410. In the example embodiment, a category (e.g., “golf”) isassociated with ad request 410 and, as such, ETM 118 identifies a poolof golf-related ads 460. As shown in FIG. 4, pool 460 includes first ad452 having a target engagement time of 7 seconds, a second ad 454 havinga target engagement time of 24 seconds, and a third ad 456 has a targetengagement time of 30 seconds.

In the example embodiment, ETM 118 selects an ad from the identifiedpool of ads 460. More specifically, ETM 118 selects an ad from pool ofads 460 based at least in part on the selected historical engagementtime (e.g., the “golf-related” historical engagement time 344) and thetarget engagement times of ads in pool 460. In some embodiments, ETM 118selects the ad having a target engagement time nearest the selectedhistorical engagement time. For example, ETM 118 may select ad 456because there is only 2 seconds difference between historical engagementtime 344 of 28 seconds and the target engagement time of 30 seconds forad 456. In other embodiments, ETM 118 selects the ad having the nearesttarget engagement time that is less than the selected historicalengagement time. For example, ETM 118 may not select ad 456 because thetarget engagement time is more than historical engagement time 344, andmay instead select ad 454 because it is the ad having the nearest targetengagement time to the selected historical engagement time 344 of 28seconds (e.g., only 4 seconds difference).

Once ETM 118 selects an ad from ads data 40 (e.g., from pool of ads460), in the example embodiment, ETM 118 generates a response 420 to adrequest 410 and transmits ad 354 to ad serving system and/or computingdevice 302 for presentation to user 304. As such, ETM 118 responds to adrequest 410 in such a way as to increase a likelihood that the viewinguser 304 will consume the ad through to at least the point at which, forexample, the advertiser's most important message has been delivered.

In some embodiments, advertisers may participate in an auctionenvironment for providing ads to users (e.g., for their ad to bepresented in response to ad request 410). For example, ad serving system120 and/or ETM 118 may provide auctions to advertisers for ad requests410. ETM 118 may consider historical engagement times 341 (shown in FIG.3) and/or target engagement times of ads 450 during an auction for adrequest 410. For example, ETM 118 may produce a likelihood or“engagement time prediction value” that user 304 is going to engage withan ad (e.g., ad 454) for that ads target engagement time (e.g., 24seconds). This engagement time prediction value may be used, forexample, as a multiplier in the auction. As such, ads that are morelikely to be fully consumed by user 304 are more likely to win theauction (e.g., be selected by ETM 118 as the ad provided by ad response420).

In some embodiments, ETM 118 computes an engagement time predictionvalue using a user clustering mechanism. ETM 118 identifies metadataabout the user, past ads, and browsing history the user has engagedwith, and identifies a cluster of users who engage with similar content.ETM 118 counts the percentage of users who, when they engaged with thead (or a similar ad based on metadata), engaged for the targetengagement time.

In some embodiments, individual impression prices may be variable anddepend on the total available or predicted inventory (e.g., based on theabove-described engagement time prediction). In some embodiments, theprice per impression may be fixed, and bids may be suggested to theadvertiser based on the engagement that the advertiser picks.

In some embodiments, ETM 118 may present a count of users or impressionsthat may be reachable. This data may assist advertisers when consideringtarget engagement times for a give ad. Further, in some embodiments, ETM118 and/or ad serving system 120 may alter an amount billed toadvertisers based on target engagement time. For example, advertisersmay be billed an additional amount if the user subsequently engages withthe provided ad for at least the associated target engagement time.

FIG. 5 is an example method 500 for serving online content to a userbased user engagement duration (e.g., historical engagement time). Inthe example embodiment, method 500 is a computer-implemented methodpracticed in environment 100 (shown in FIG. 1) using one or morecomputing devices such as user access devices 108 (shown in FIG. 1), adserving system 120 (shown in FIG. 1), ETM 118 (shown in FIG. 1), contentprovider system 112 (shown in FIG. 1), publisher system 114, and/orcomputing device 404 (shown in FIG. 4), and includes at least oneprocessor and a memory. Method 500 includes determining 510 a historicalengagement time of an online user. Method 500 also includes identifying520 a plurality of online content items, each online content item of theplurality of online content items having a target engagement time.Method 500 also includes receiving 530 a request for a content item,wherein the request is associated with the online user. Method 500 alsoincludes selecting 540, by the processor, a first online content itemfrom the plurality of online content items based at least in part on thehistorical engagement time of the online user and the target engagementtime of the first online content item. Method 500 also includestransmitting 550 the first online content item for display to the onlineuser.

In some embodiments, determining 510 a historical engagement timefurther includes determining an average time that the online userengaged with one or more historical online content items. In someembodiments, determining 510 a historical engagement time furtherincludes determining average time that the online user engaged with oneor more historical online content items within a category of historicalonline content items. In some embodiments, determining 510 thehistorical engagement time further includes determining the historicalengagement time based at least in part on time spent by the online userviewing a video ad before abandoning the viewing. In some embodiments,selecting 540 an online content item is further based at least in parton having an associated target engagement time near the historicalengagement time. In some embodiments, method 500 also includes receivingthe target engagement times of the plurality of online content itemsfrom a plurality of associated online content providers. In someembodiments, method 500 also includes determining an actual engagementtime of the online user engaging with the first online content item, anddetermining a cost associated with providing the first online contentitem based at least in part on the actual engagement time and the targetengagement time.

FIG. 6 shows an example configuration 600 of a database 620 within acomputing device 610, along with other related computing components,that may be used for serving online content to a user based userengagement duration. Computing device 610 may operate in a networkedenvironment such as environment 100 (shown in FIG. 2). In someembodiments, computing device 610 is similar to user access devices 108(shown in FIG. 1), ETM 118 (shown in FIG. 1), ad serving system 120(shown in FIG. 1), content provider system 112 (shown in FIG. 1),publisher system 114, and/or computing device 302 (shown in FIG. 3).Database 620 is coupled to several separate components within computingdevice 610, which perform specific tasks.

In the example embodiment, database 620 includes historical engagementdata 622, ad data 624, and target engagement data 626. Historicalengagement data 622 includes information associated with past userengagement with various served ads and their particular categories, aswell as historical engagement times. Ad data 624 includes informationassociated with ads provided to requesting users. Target engagement data526 includes data associated with target engagement times associatedwith ads.

Computing device 610 includes the database 620, as well as data storagedevices 630. Computing device 610 also includes an ad serving component640 for managing ad requests from user computing devices. Computingdevice 610 also includes an engagement time component 650 fordetermining historical engagement times and for selecting ads based onhistorical engagement times. Computing device 610 also includes an adpricing component 660 for determining prices for impressions servedbased on actual engagement times and/or target engagement times. Acommunications component 670 is also included for communicating withother servers or entities during collection and analysis. A processingcomponent 680 assists with execution of computer-executable instructionsassociated with the system.

It will be appreciated that the above embodiments that have beendescribed in particular detail are merely example or possibleembodiments, and that there are many other combinations, additions, oralternatives that may be included.

Also, the particular naming of the components, capitalization of terms,the attributes, data structures, or any other programming or structuralaspect is not mandatory or significant, and the mechanisms thatimplement the embodiments or its features may have different names,formats, or protocols. Further, the system may be implemented via acombination of hardware and software, as described, or entirely inhardware elements. Also, the particular division of functionalitybetween the various system components described herein is merelyexemplary, and not mandatory; functions performed by a single systemcomponent may instead be performed by multiple components, and functionsperformed by multiple components may instead performed by a singlecomponent.

Some portions of above description present features in terms ofalgorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information.These algorithmic descriptions and representations may be used by thoseskilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey thesubstance of their work to others skilled in the art. These operations,while described functionally or logically, are understood to beimplemented by computer programs. Furthermore, it has also provenconvenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of operations asmodules or by functional names, without loss of generality.

Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the abovediscussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description,discussions utilizing terms such as “processing” or “computing” or“calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or “providing”“retrieving” “receiving” or the like, refer to the action and processesof a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, thatmanipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic)quantities within the computer system memories or registers or othersuch information storage, transmission or display devices.

Based on the foregoing specification, the above-discussed embodiments ofthe disclosure may be implemented using computer programming orengineering techniques including computer software, firmware, hardwareor any combination or subset thereof. Any such resulting program, havingcomputer-readable and/or computer-executable instructions, may beembodied or provided within one or more computer-readable media, therebymaking a computer program product, i.e., an article of manufacture,according to the discussed embodiments of the disclosure. The computerreadable media may be, for instance, a fixed (hard) drive, diskette,optical disk, magnetic tape, semiconductor memory such as read-onlymemory (ROM) or flash memory, etc., or any transmitting/receiving mediumsuch as the Internet or other communication network or link. The articleof manufacture containing the computer code may be made and/or used byexecuting the instructions directly from one medium, by copying the codefrom one medium to another medium, or by transmitting the code over anetwork.

These computer programs (also known as programs, software, softwareapplications or code) include machine instructions for a programmableprocessor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/orobject-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machinelanguage. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium”“computer-readable medium” refers to any computer program product,apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory,Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructionsand/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readablemedium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.The “machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium,” however,do not include transitory signals. The term “machine-readable signal”refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data toa programmable processor.

While the disclosure has been described in terms of various specificembodiments, it will be recognized that the disclosure can be practicedwith modification within the spirit and scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A content serving computer system for servingonline content based on user engagement duration, the content servingcomputer system comprising: at least one memory; and one or moreprocessors configured to: receive consumption data associated with anapplication of a user access device of an online user comprising, foreach of a plurality of served online content items, a duration that theapplication displayed said served online content item before navigatingaway from said online content item; determine a historical engagementtime of the online user as an average engagement time for the onlineuser from the consumption data, wherein the historical engagement timeis an average duration that the application of the user access device ofthe online user displayed said served online content items beforenavigating away from the online content items; identify a plurality ofonline content items, each online content item of the plurality ofonline content items having a target engagement time associatedtherewith; receive a request for a content item from the user accessdevice, wherein the request is associated with the online user; select afirst online content item from the plurality of online content itemshaving a target engagement time less than the historical engagement timeof the online user; and transmit the first online content item to theuser access device for display to the online user, the applicationdisplaying the first online content item for a duration less than thehistorical engagement time of the online user.
 2. The content servingcomputer system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of served onlinecontent items are associated with a first category, wherein the averageengagement time is associated with the first category, and wherein theone or more processors are further configured such that identifying aplurality of online content items further includes identifying aplurality of online content items associated with the first category. 3.The content serving computer system of claim 2, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured such that receiving a request for acontent item further includes identifying a first category associatedwith the request, and identifying a plurality of online content itemsfurther includes identifying a plurality of online content itemsassociated with the first category.
 4. The content serving computersystem of claim 2, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured such that selecting a first online content item furtherincludes selecting a first online content item having a first engagementtime that is less than the historical engagement time.
 5. The contentserving computer system of claim 2, wherein the one or more processorsare further configured such that selecting a first online content itemfurther includes selecting a first online content item from theplurality of online content items having an engagement time nearest thehistorical engagement time.
 6. The content serving computer system ofclaim 2, wherein the one or more processors are further configured suchthat selecting a first online content item further includes selecting afirst online content item from the plurality of online content itemshaving an engagement time that is less than the historical engagementtime and nearest historical engagement time.
 7. The content servingcomputer system of claim 2, wherein the one or more processors arefurther configured to: determine an actual engagement time of the onlineuser engaging with the first online content item; and determine a costassociated with providing the first online content item based at leastin part on the actual engagement time and the target engagement time. 8.A computer-implemented method for serving online content based on userengagement duration, said method comprising: receiving, by a contentserving computer device, consumption data associated with an applicationof a user access device of an online user comprising, for each of aplurality of served online content items, a duration that theapplication displayed said served online content item before navigatingaway from said online content item; determining, by the content servingcomputer device, a historical engagement time of the online user as anaverage engagement time for the online user from the consumption data,wherein the historical engagement time is an average duration that theapplication of the user access device of the online user displayed saidserved online content items before navigating away from the onlinecontent items; identifying, by the content serving computer device, aplurality of online content items, each online content item of theplurality of online content items having a target engagement timeassociated therewith; receiving, by the content serving computer device,a request for a content item from the user access device, wherein therequest is associated with the online user; selecting, by the contentserving computer device, a first online content item from the pluralityof online content items having a target engagement time less than thehistorical engagement time of the online user; and transmitting, by thecontent serving computer device, the first online content item fordisplay to the online user, the application displaying the first onlinecontent item for a duration less than the historical engagement time ofthe online user.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality ofserved online content items are associated with a first category,wherein the average engagement time is associated with the firstcategory, wherein identifying a plurality of online content itemsfurther includes identifying a plurality of online content itemsassociated with the first category.
 10. The method of claim 8, whereinreceiving a request for a content item further includes identifying afirst category associated with the request, wherein identifying aplurality of online content items further includes identifying aplurality of online content items associated with the first category.11. The method of claim 8, wherein selecting a first online content itemfurther includes selecting a first online content item having a firstengagement time that is less than the historical engagement time. 12.The method of claim 8, wherein selecting a first online content itemfurther includes selecting a first online content item from theplurality of online content items having an engagement time nearest thehistorical engagement time.
 13. The method of claim 8, wherein selectinga first online content item further includes selecting a first onlinecontent item from the plurality of online content items having anengagement time that is less than the historical engagement time andnearest historical engagement time.
 14. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: determining an actual engagement time of the online userengaging with the first online content item; and determining a costassociated with providing the first online content item based at leastin part on the actual engagement time and the target engagement time.15. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media havingcomputer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein, whenexecuted by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructionscause the processor to: receive consumption data associated with anapplication of a user access device of an online user comprising, foreach of a plurality of served online content items, a duration that theapplication displayed said served online content item before navigatingaway from said online content item; determine a historical engagementtime of the online user as an average engagement time for the onlineuser from the consumption data, wherein the historical engagement timeis an average duration that the application of the user access device ofthe online user displayed said served online content items beforenavigating away from the online content items; identify a plurality ofonline content items, each online content item of the plurality ofonline content items having a target engagement time associatedtherewith; receive a request for a content item from the user accessdevice, wherein the request is associated with the online user; select afirst online content item from the plurality of online content itemshaving a target engagement time less than the historical engagement timeof the online user; and transmit the first online content item to theuser access device for display to the online user, the applicationdisplaying the first online content item for a duration less than thehistorical engagement time of the online user.
 16. The computer-readablestorage media of claim 15, wherein the plurality of served onlinecontent items are associated with a first category, wherein the averageengagement time is associated with the first category, and furthercomprising computer-executable instructions such that identifying aplurality of online content items further includes identifying aplurality of online content items associated with the first category.17. The computer-readable storage media of claim 16, further comprisingcomputer-executable instructions such that receiving a request for acontent item further includes identifying a first category associatedwith the request, and identifying a plurality of online content itemsfurther includes identifying a plurality of online content itemsassociated with the first category.
 18. The computer-readable storagemedia of claim 15, further comprising computer-executable instructionssuch that selecting a first online content item further includesselecting a first online content item having a first engagement timethat is less than the historical engagement time.
 19. Thecomputer-readable storage media of claim 15, further comprisingcomputer-executable instructions such that selecting a first onlinecontent item further includes selecting a first online content item fromthe plurality of online content items having an engagement time nearestthe historical engagement time.
 20. The computer-readable storage mediaof claim 15, further comprising computer-executable instructions suchthat selecting a first online content item further includes selecting afirst online content item from the plurality of online content itemshaving an engagement time that is less than the historical engagementtime and nearest historical engagement time.